Hospital Blues: 2011 FO #7 Blue Jay Boneyard

On the night I broke my leg, I slipped and immediately know something was very wrong.  We immediately called the ambulance and while we were waiting Sam packed a bag for me.  Bless his lovely soul, in addition to my wallet and mobile phone he packed three knitting projects.  One of them was this:



I knitted this entire shawl in the five days after my operation before I was transferred to rehab.  I can remember precisely nothing of the process at all - zilch.  I must have enjoyed it because I did finish it quickly (for me), but I have no memory of it.





The finished shawl then got lost in the move from hospital from hospital and then apartment to apartment, only to be rediscovered a few weeks ago.  I blocked it, and I now have a brand-new scarf in some of my favourite colours that feels likes a present from me to me!

This yarn was originally going to be socks, but when I was knitting them up I got hardcore pooling of the black part of the yarn which obliterated all the other subtle variations of the yarn. The Boneyard pattern really showcases this particular yarn - it’s a perfect marriage between wool and pattern.

Pattern: Boneyard, by Stephen West
Yarn: My favourite - Colinette Jitterbug, colourway Jay
Notes/Modifications: Because I am short, I modified the pattern so there were six increases every two rows instead of four, meaning I ended up with a shorter, wider shawl. I did this by changing the increases at each side of the shawl to YOs and increasing at the start and end of each row, just like Ishbel.

2011 FO #5: Alpaca Abyssal

One of the pleasant side-effects of recuperating from a major illness is massive amounts of time sitting around on my arse.  I'm not fit enough to go back to work yet*, so after I finish the two hours of exercise I have to complete every day my time is my own.  This means lots of time for watching movies, cooking shows and knitting up a storm.

Here's a little something I whipped up last week:

I wanted a scarf that was squooshy and soft and made out of stash yarn (another benefit of not being able to go out when I want is that I can't go to the wool shop whenever I feel like it...this is definitely a good thing!).  I had some gorgeously soft baby alpaca left over from my much-loved and often worn endpaper mitts, and when I saw this shawl last week, I knew what I had to do.




I used the grey as a contrast colour on the feather and fan section to use up as much stash yarn as I could.  I also changed the body of the scarf from stockinette to garter stitch to maximise the squooshiness.

 It was a quick, easy knit that sits perfectly, looks fantastic and makes me feel good about reducing my stash and spending too much time sitting on my arse.

Pattern: Abyssal Shawl
Yarn: Baby alpaca bought in 2007 (!!!)
Notes/modifications: Listed above.

I really love this shawl!

* I would like to go back to work.  I worry that my brain is shrinking a bit from underuse!  But I am taking a glass-half-full approach to my rehab and looking at the sunny side.

Finally done! 2011 FO #4: New Start Shawl

Last year when I left one job and headed down a new pathway in my life, I started a new shawl.  It's only taken me nine months (!!!) but it's finally done:

As per usual, Lucy helped out as best she could during the blocking process.  

Finishing this shawl did cause me to evaluate the last nine months.  I certainly have not achieved everything I wanted - my work, though interesting, is infrequent, leading to weeks where I am crazy busy intersected by days watching repeats of Friends and Sex and the City.  I have lost weight, but not as much as I wanted.  Overall, even though I have some way to go, I am certain that I am on the correct path and heading in the right direction. Yay me.

Enough navel-gazing - here's the vital statistics:

Pattern: Bitterroot Shawl from Knitty

Yarn: Patonyle, three full skeins in black.  This sock yarn is terrible for socks, but perfect for a lovely, soft, drapey shawl.  Go figure.

Notes/modifications: Knitted the size large exactly as written.  The pattern was clear, easy to understand, and completely stress free.  A very nice project.

2011 FO #1: No Blanket For You! Hat

Ta da! The hat for the baby who didn't get a blanket is all done.  It's super cute, and I hope the new parents like it.

A few notes on the pattern.  The pattern I used was Cabled Hat with Earflap from Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots by Zoe Mellor. I have another book of Mellor's, 50 Baby Booties to Knit, and I have the same criticism for both books.  Basically, the pattern are a lot more fiddly than they need to be.  This hat is knitted flat and then seamed up.  Some knitters prefer to knit flat, but it's just another unnecessary step that could have been avoided.  I modified it to knit in the round by casting on one stitch less, but that's my preference because if I had to seam it, there's a good chance it'd sit there until the baby was two years old waiting for me to get around to it!  The earflaps are gorgeous and the ties and pompom in a coordinating yarn are a great touch that I will use again, but there were heaps of ends to weave in, making the finishing a bit annoying.  The instructions on how to make a pompom were incredibly blacking.  The sizes of the hat, rather than being listed in approximate ages as you'd expect from a baby book, were Small Medium Large, meaning that while I was making the hat I had no idea if it was going to be the right size for a newborn or a two-year-old.  I love the finished product, but the whole process was, well fiddly and a bit annoying.

Pattern: Cabled Hat with Earflaps (Rav link)

Yarn: Less than one ball of Sirdar Double Crepe for the body of the hat, scraps of Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 5ply in Royal Blue for the straps and the pompom.
Notes/Modifications: See above.

And before I go, have you ever seen anything cuter than this?

I thought not.